Human Rights group celebrates progress

11:39 PM,
Sep. 22, 2013

Beverly Watts

Written by

Beverly L. Watts

In 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter from the Birmingham Jail; fire hoses and dogs were used to contain civil rights demonstrators; Medgar Evers was killed; four young girls were killed at the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham; and more than 200,000 people marched on Washington, where Dr. King gave his historic "I Have A Dream" speech.

The Tennessee Human Relations Commission was created on Sept. 30, 1963, when Gov. Frank Clement signed Executive Order 18 after a thoughtful, progressive process. The commission's original function was advisory; designed ...